The present invention relates to a fully-automatic spraying system employing a spray car.
Fully-automatic spraying systems have hitherto been employed which use spray cars or so-called robot spray cars automatically moving back and forth in furrows between ridges to sprinkle water or chemicals when, for example, vegetables are cultivated in greenhouses. FIG. 4 shows such a fully-automatic spraying system. In FIG. 4, numeral 1 denotes a spray container fixed outside a greenhouse 2; numeral 3, a pump for drawing up a spraying liquid from the container 1; and numeral 4, a pair of rails laid in a head land 6 so as to extend perpendicularly to ridges 5. Numeral 7 denotes a truck reciprocating on the rails 4, and numeral 8 denotes a motor-driven spray car mounted on the truck 7 so that the car 8 can be loaded on or unloaded from the truck 7. The spray car 8 uses front wheels 28 as driving wheels to move back and forth along furrows 9 between the ridges 5. Reference character 10A denotes a hose for feeding the spraying liquid from the container 1 to the pump 3; 10B, a hose for returning excessive spraying liquid from the pump 3 to the container 1; and 11, a high-pressure hose for feeding the spraying liquid under pressure to a spray device 8A of the spray car 8. Reference character 12a denotes a wire for hanging the high-pressure hose 11 in many loops from hooks 12B. The wire 12A is stretched parallel to the rails 4 so as to move back and forth. The high-pressure hose 11 is extended into the spray car 8 and is wound around a reel 8, inside the spray car 8 and is connected to the spray device 8A. The high-pressure hose 11 is wound onto or from the reel inside the spray car 8 as the spray car 8 moves back and forth in the furrows 9 between the ridges 5.
Even when the spray car 8 is loaded onto the truck 7, the front wheels 28 continue to rotate, thus rotating a mesh roller 13 serving as a stopper. The rotative driving force of the mesh roller 13 causes the truck 7, on which the spray car 8 is mounted, to move on the rails 4.
In the conventional system thus constructed, equipment is required to stretch the wire 12A which hangs the high-pressure hose 11 from the ceiling of the greenhouse 2, thus increasing the cost of equipment. Also, since the high-pressure hose 11 in many loops hangs from the wire 12A, it is inconvenient to work in the greenhouse 2.